Table 2.
Candidate ecological factors that influence elk mobility (step length) before and during the hunting season.
| group of factors included in model selection | factors | variables associated with elk step length | predicted link with individual movement rate (step length) | supporting examplesa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| individual behaviour | hunting season fate | survived or harvested | higher movement rates are expected in elk that are eventually shot by hunters (through increased encounters with humans) | [20] |
| Julian date | Julian date | elk mobility could flexibly fluctuate through time (Julian date), e.g. depending on movement behaviour, period of the year (rut) and hunting pressure | [23–25] | |
| movement behaviour | migratory, disperser, resident | higher movement rates are expected in dispersers or young migratory individuals owing to exploratory behaviour within unknown grounds | [26] | |
| individual experience (age) | age | age | home ranges and, arguably, movement rates decrease with age (as a result of increased experience and/or knowledge of the habitat) | [19] |
| environment | day period | night, dawn, day, dusk | higher movement rates are expected at dawn and dusk as a result of crepuscular activity | [27] |
| terrain ruggednessb,c | terrain ruggedness r | lower movement rates are expected as higher energy expenditure for locomotion is required due terrain ruggedness, and, consequently, elevation and snow cover. | [28] | |
| open areas (anti-predator behaviour) | elk step length recorded outside or inside open areas (un-forested) | higher movement rates are expected within open areas because of higher perceived risk | [29] | |
| open areas (foraging behaviour) | lower movement rates are expected if animals forage in open habitat | [22] | ||
| humans | land use (human disturbance on a large spatial scale) | national park, private land, public land | different movement rates are expected within national park, private and public land, but the direction of such an effect is still unclear | [20,30] |
| distance from gravel roadsc (human disturbance on a small spatial scale) | distance from the nearest gravel road dgrv | higher movement rates are expected close to roads | [31] | |
| week period (human disturbance on a temporal scale) | weekday or Sat.–Sun. | higher movement rates are expected when human disturbance increases (i.e. during the weekend) | [31] | |
| two-way interactions | different response to humans between elk that are harvested or survive during the hunting season | two-way interactions | elk that are harvested are expected to move faster (higher detectability) when and where hunter activity is higher (i.e. flatter terrain, open areas, close to roads, during weekends) | none |
aIn ungulates.
bCollinear with elevation and snow cover in winter time.
cComputed for the telemetry relocation prior to the step length.